Over the years, the justice system has seen a number of major changes, among them, bail reforms. The term bail generally refers to the release of an accused person from jail as they await trial. In most cases, bail is usually set in monetary terms.
The Problem
Once a person is arrested and charged in a court of law, they are afforded the opportunity to go before the court and ask to be free as they await their trial. The court may

Over the years, the justice system has seen a number of major changes, among them, bail reforms. The term bail generally refers to the release of an accused person from jail as they await trial. In most cases, bail is

Once again, Donald Trump makes statements that cause rage and astonishment across the globe. In December 2017 Trump announced what he called “America First National Security Strategy”. This strategy highlighted the US major concerns and how the administration plans to

There are a lot of speculations about the best solution for the permanent problems of the Palestinians. With growing conflict, finding an alternative land for them seems to be a feasible option. Donald Trump, the American President has been eyeing

Last January, Trump decided to lift the ban that was earlier approved concerning refugees of 11 countries. Nevertheless, the International Rescue Committee decided to allow about 21,000 refugees only this year, a number way below the 45,000 limit set by

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Over the years, the justice system has seen a number of major changes, among them, bail reforms. The term bail generally refers to the release of an accused person from jail as they await trial. In most cases, bail is usually set in monetary terms.

The Problem

Once a person is arrested and charged in a court of law, they are afforded the opportunity to go before the court and ask to be free as they await their trial. The court may agree to release the accused person provided that they satisfy a number of stated conditions; among them a set bail amount.

Where bail is set, the accused is forced to secure the same from a variety of sources available to them including bail bondsmen. It is worth noting that any accused person unable to meet the bail amount remains in jail.

Those unable to meet their bail, mainly from a poor background, are subject to a variety of negative consequences. For instance, they may be fired from their job due to the extended absence from work, or even fail to take any medication they may be on.

Various bail reforms have been introduced over the years in a bid to make the justice system, and the bail system to be specific, fair to all involved whether rich or poor.

The New System

The most recent bail reforms aim to further eliminate the need for monetary bail. In this new system, judges will have to rely on a result produced by a computerized system. The algorithm takes several predetermined factors into consideration before producing a recommendation on whether an accused person should be released or remanded until their trial is complete.

It is worth noting that, judges still have the option to choose otherwise given the facts of the case as argued by the prosecution.

What It Means For The Bail Bonds Business

This new system is seen to pose a threat to the bail bonds business as there is a huge reduction in the number of cases where cash bail is set for the release of accused persons. In some cases, however, bail will still be set in monetary terms.

In closing, this step in bail reform is being seen as a step in the right direction as far as equality before the law is concerned. Securing release from jail will no longer solely rely on a person’s access to cash.

Once again, Donald Trump makes statements that cause rage and astonishment across the globe. In December 2017 Trump announced what he called “America First National Security Strategy”. This strategy highlighted the US major concerns and how the administration plans to deal with them. The 68-pages document involves a lot about dealing with US biggest rivals; China and Russia. Both countries are enjoying growing powers in the South Asian region. The current administration thinks that it will ultimately threaten the US’s prosperity and welfare.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are also mentioned in the document. The internal peace of Afghanistan is a major issue with special focus given to the Indian role to restore peace. India is one of the biggest allies for the United States in the region and can help restore balance along the Indian Ocean.

At the same time, Pakistan is also mentioned with special requests to identify their counterterrorism efforts. If the Pakistani government wishes to achieve peace then they will have to make sure that their partnership with the US is safe. Pakistan will have to offer all Taliban militias on the negotiation table if they want to live in peace.

The question remains if the US policy will fail. With Trump’s statements and eccentric actions, the future is still uncertain.

There are a lot of speculations about the best solution for the permanent problems of the Palestinians. With growing conflict, finding an alternative land for them seems to be a feasible option. Donald Trump, the American President has been eyeing Sinai as a new home to the people of Palestine who are currently causing a lot of imbalance to the foundations of Israel.

But the answer to the problem is not that easy. When the Israeli Social Equality Minister, Gila Gamliel called for a Palestinian homeland in Sinai, her proposal was received with great social and political dismay. Government officials and most Egyptians made it very clear that this solution is unacceptable. The proposal goes back to 2014 when it was equally rejected by the Palestinian and Egyptian sides.

Gamliel insists that this might be the only practical solution to the current situation although it might not be appealing to Israel’s Arab neighbors and to the Egyptian side in particular. She further explains that there should be no state for Palestine between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean. This means that the conflict will remain, thus affecting other countries. For this reason, it only makes sense that parts of their lands should be considered while working out a solution.

Last January, Trump decided to lift the ban that was earlier approved concerning refugees of 11 countries. Nevertheless, the International Rescue Committee decided to allow about 21,000 refugees only this year, a number way below the 45,000 limit set by the administration. The early ban decision caused chaos, discomfort and raised a lot of question marks concerning the US opinion regarding some of its political allies like Egypt and regions that suffer from war crisis like Syria.

The number is way less than the average number admitted over the last decade and the target set by the previous Obama administration. Donald Trump made it very clear in Davos that the US welcomes foreign investments but is not interested in offering help; a situation that caused anger among world leaders.

Unlike Obama, Trump is not concerned about raising the cap to help refugees of the civil war in Syria. While 15% of the US refugees arrived from Syria in 2017, the number is likely to fall to only 0.5% in 2018. This is mainly caused by the ban Trump put on traveling from 11 countries, including Syria. There are also more restrictions on the demographics of the refugees let in which means that only 13% of them identify as Muslims. The ban was initially blocked by courts but no one can deny the kind of confusion it caused. Right now, the ban is lifted but this doesn’t mean that things are easier. There are still more in-depth interviews and more invasive background checks before letting people in.

The number of refugees from Muslim countries like Iraq and Syria who settled during the first month of 2018 represents an insignificant percentage of the number who settled in the US over the same period of time in 2017. This only shows how intolerant the new administration is. Trump actually made it very clear that the US is not ready to accept more refugees. His administration even took a further step by curbing legal immigration by ending visas for family members of US neutralized citizens.

The current situation raises a lot of ethical questions. Most politicians agree that such policies deprive refugees of their right to live decent lives. They have no other option than to go through hardships in areas of conflict. The settlement process usually took a couple of years involving a lot of medical and background check to make sure that everyone was given a fair chance. But things now seem more challenging. British politician David Miliband expresses his great dismay regarding Trump’s new decisions. He insists that his decisions only aim to deprive the refugees and their families of the only chance they have to stay alive.

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The political trends keep on changing every hour. Are you overwhelmed by the New World Order and how everything seems different? You are not alone. We created On the Fire Politics to analyze and shed more light on the new trends that change the face of our world every day.

About Me

I have studied Political Science at the University and worked with my colleagues to establish a Political Magazine. Together we worked to analyze the latest political trends and wrote what we thought.

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About Me

I have studied Political Science at the University and worked with my colleagues to establish a Political Magazine. Together we worked to analyze the latest political trends and wrote what we thought. Later on, I worked for a local newspaper focusing on international politics especially those that have a vast effect on the economy.